More followed.
Gideon checked each package carefully.
Rachel watched.
“You're serious.”
“I told you.”
“All of them?”
“All of them.”
She looked toward the shelves.
“We might have to check the stockroom.”
“Let's do that.”
Rachel smiled.
“Okay.”
She disappeared into the back.
Gideon waited.
A few minutes later, she returned with two boxes.
“More.”
Gideon nodded.
“Put them in the cart.”
Rachel did.
Then she noticed something.
Gideon wasn't choosing the most expensive dolls.
He wasn't choosing based on packaging.
He wasn't buying collectibles.
He was buying characters.
Every princess.
Every version.
Every doll the store carried.
Rachel looked at the cart.
“You're really keeping your promise.”
Gideon looked at her.
“What promise?”
“To your granddaughter.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
Rachel smiled.
“I think that's beautiful.”
Gideon looked uncomfortable.
“It's just toys.”
“No.”
Rachel shook her head.
“It's not.”
Gideon didn't respond.
He simply kept shopping.
When the shelves were nearly empty, Rachel asked:
“Would you like me to check another location?”
Gideon considered it.
“Yes.”
She called another branch.
They had six more.
Gideon bought them.
Another store had three.
He bought those too.
Eventually, the cashier looked at the total.
Then looked at Gideon.
Then at the enormous collection of princess dolls.
“Sir?”
“Yes?”
“Are you aware of how many dolls are here?”
Gideon smiled.
“No.”
The cashier laughed.
“You might want to sit down.”
Gideon shook his head.
“I've got this.”
The final total appeared.
Gideon looked at it.
It was a lot.
More than he had planned.
But he thought about Sophie.
He remembered her sitting beside her mother's photograph.
He remembered the way she had stopped asking for things.
He remembered the sentence:
You can do anything.
Gideon handed over his card.
“Let's do it.”
As the cashier began scanning the dolls, people started noticing.
Customers gathered nearby.
Some smiled.
Some whispered.
A young mother pointed toward the cart.
A little boy stared at Gideon's beard.
Two employees came over to help.
The dolls kept coming.